


Wings of Fire: From The Marsh

by CinnamonSandWing



Category: Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: F/F, F/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-06 03:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19054417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnamonSandWing/pseuds/CinnamonSandWing
Summary: Fifty years after the events of Darkness of Dragons, diplomatic relationships between the Mud and SeaWings are thriving, but that could all very well be destroyed with the advent of the first known MudWing animus...





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: These are all my original characters, there are no canon ones. I hope you enjoy!

**Prologue**

* * *

 

 _Crack, crack, squeal._ Sienna heard someone awake outside her egg. _Pat, pat, pat. CRACK!_ Another one of her sibs eggs was broken. Soon it would be her turn. _No._ She thought determinedly. _I can do this on my own_. She pressed her tiny talons against the walls of her temporary prison and kicked her feet. Nothing. Again. Nothing. _Pat, pat, pat. T_ he talon steps drew closer _I…_ Sienna felt a new sort of power shoot through her. _Can…_ She braced herself against the egg. _Do this!_ She pushed again, as hard as she could. The cool, damp air flooded over her scales. She fell forward onto the mud floor of the hatchery. Three small dragons looked at her confused. She sat up and stared back at them with anger. She stood up and wobbled over to the last egg in the clutch. None of the other dragonets moved, not even the bigwings. Sienna placed her claws on the egg and thought hard to herself. _You can come out now. We're all waiting! She pressed down on the shell_. _**CRACK**_! Not only did the delicate eggshell crack, but it was crushed completely. The tiny burnt-orange MudWing sat in the circle of fine powder left by his egg's destruction. The rest of Sienna's sibs were all looking at her wide-eyed and intrigued now. Sienna flared her wings, flexed her talons, and walked confidently towards the small exit hole of the hatching hut.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinnamon meets up with her friends, Barnacle and Goby, in the Sea Kingdom and they decide to investigate the new MudWing queen

Chapter 1

* * *

 

     "I'm going out!" Cinnamon called to her sister from the front room of their shop. It's not that she need to get away from Jackalope specifically, she loved her sister, but she just needed a change. Her scales itched with that feeling she got when she sat still too long. Pacing the packed sand floor, she waited for Jackelope's response. WHOOSH! Sizzle. Hisssss… Cinnamon's sister had finished the tooling on whatever project she was working on now. There was a short pause and the clanking of metal before any reply was given "Where to and when will you be back?" Jackalope inquired. "I don't know. I just need to go. I've been back for two months already, isn't that a long enough visit home? Besides, nothing ever changes here, I've seen all there is to see. There's a whole continent full of other dragons out there and I need to… explore! I'll be back when I get back." Cinnamon didn't wait for her sister to protest, she turned and was out the door in a second. She walked the same streets of the Possibility marketplace she'd known since she was hatched. The only thing that ever really changed was the market stalls; peddlers from all tribes came and went as quickly as the wind. Cinnamon loved their way of living, always traveling, always discovering new interesting things to sell. It wasn't too far off from her own life, only they did it for a living where Cinnamon did it for kicks. She reached the edge of town and launched herself into the sky. As she flew higher in search of a current, she found the wind pulling her to the east. _Looks like I'm going to be paying my friends in the sea a visit._ On and on she flew, only stopping to rest for a bit near the Claws of the Clouds. By dusk she had reached the scavenger den just outside the Sea Kingdom and made camp on the shore. She didn't care much for scavengers in the eating sense -they were too difficult to properly cook and too stringy for her liking- so she stole one of their cows and made that her dinner instead. With a full stomach and a spirit revitalized from her journey, she dug herself a hole in the sand and laid happily to sleep.

     Cinnamon awoke to a flurry of wings and the laughing screams of seagulls. She blinked the initial of the morning sun out of her eyes and looked around her. Now she could see what had spooked the seagulls; a couple yards down the shoreline stood a frustrated seafoam colored SeaWing with a rock-like animal growing up the length of his right arm. “Barnacle!” Cinnamon cried as she jumped up and shook the sand off her wings. The SeaWing looked startled for a moment before realizing who it was that was running towards him. Before Barnacle knew it, his friend had wrapped her wings around him and was giving him a soppy hug. "Ow!" Cinnamon exclaimed. Barnacle stifled a laugh. "I've still got spikes, just like last time." He teased the SandWing. "Shut up!" Cinnamon responded, cuffing him playfully on the arm. Rising out of the water behind them came Goby, a dark grey, almost black SeaWing. At a distance the only way you could tell him apart from a NightWing was his bright blue bioluminescent scales. "Cinnamon!" He greeted her. He made his way up the beach to them and Cinnamon gave him a polite friendly hug, being very careful not to poke herself on his spines. "Wow…" Goby said "how long has it been?" "Too long." Cinnamon said decidedly while absentmindedly scratching at something in her ear. "Jackalope's nice, and I love her and all, but even though she's known me practically my whole life I don't think she gets me. 'Cinnamon, help me skin this boar!' 'Cinnamon, could you relight the furnace?' 'Cinnamon, where have you been all day? I could have really used your help at the shop.' I'm just not that kind of dragon. I hate…" She paused, searching for the right word, "structure."

     "I get it" Goby replied, "but sometimes routine and rules can be beneficial."

     "Eh."Cinnamon grunted dismissively. There was a moment of uncomfortably tense silence. "So what have you been up to?" Barnacle asked, trying to lighten the mood. It seemed to work because Cinnamon sat a little straighter and looked up from the ground. "Like I was saying, Jackalope thought it would be a good idea for me to work a while at her shop. Sure every moment was a bore… but I did make this cool bracelet" she held out her forearm. Around it were two strips of leather, about the width of a talon, woven together and etched with beautiful designs. Two SeaWings surrounded by intricately carved spirals and next to them a NightWing that looked like it was holding a pen staring deep in thought at a piece of paper it had under its claws. Looking longingly at the NightWing, farther down on the bracelet, was a grumpy looking RainWing. Barnacle was speechless. "You… You made this?" He found it hard to believe that his friend who had trouble keeping her body still for more than a few moments at a time could have made something as detailed and that required as much focus as this. Cinnamon flexed her wings. "I just did the weaving and drew out the idea. Jackalope did all of the tooling." She said flatly. "Still, it's amazing!" Barnacle complimented her. "Is that us?" Goby asked, pointing to the SeaWings on the band. Cinnamon nodded; she looked almost embarrassed. "I really missed you guys…" she mumbled. Barnacle patted her on the back with his wing. "I love it."

     Cinnamon might have imagined it, but she felt a wave of cold flush over her scales the fire in her seemed to well up for just a moment. _He really loves it…_ She thought to herself. She caught herself staring off and snapped her attention back to Barnacle. It must have startled him because he quickly moved his wing away. "So what's the news with you guys?" She asked hastily, changing the subject. Goby had walked off, Cinnamon hadn't noticed when. He had picked a coconut and wandered back into the ocean, tossing it back and forth between his talons and batting it up and catching it again. "We've got the gala coming up when the second moon is full, so dragons have been pretty busy preparing for that. The MudWings have a new queen and Queen Algae wants everything to be perfect; first impressions are very important to her."

     "A new queen, huh? I wonder what she's like." Cinnamon thought aloud. She remembered something Starcatcher had mentioned last time she visited the Rainforest. "I heard the MudWings also have their first animus. Maybe it could be her!" Cinnamon got that feeling again, like there was sand under her scales eating her from the inside. Barnacle must have seen the light go on in her eyes because he walked over and was giving her a quizzical look. "What if we… Went to go find out?!" Cinnamon suggested excitedly. Goby stopped splashing around and held his coconut still. "Oh, no no no. No way! We can't just leave like that." Goby paused. "...can we?" He finished softly. "Why not? Algae's not the best at keeping track of her subjects, and what difference is the disappearance a few low class SeaWings gonna make anyway?" Barnacle argued. "He does have a point~" Cinnamon agreed in a sing song voice. The stress of Goby's mental dilemma was starting to show through the rest of his body. "Grrrrrrr. Alright, fine! Let's go."

     "Yahoo!!" Cinnamon flung herself rather ungracefully into the air. Barnacle and Goby quickly stumbled after her. "Where are we even going?!" Goby shouted over the wind. "To the Rainforest!" Cinnamon yelled back with a grin. "There's someone I need to pick up first…"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

 

 

     It was just after noon when the trio reached the Rainforest. With Cinnamon leading the way, they glided down to the NightWing village. For being labelled a NightWing village there were a surprisingly high number of RainWings, but as Cinnamon saw all of the beautiful opalescent hybrids around she could see why. She led the SeaWings through the expertly crafted wood streets to a tall spiraling staircase that twisted up to a little hut in the canopy. They climbed the staircase and stood (a bit cramped) on the small deck out front. Cinnamon knocked at the door. Her rapping must have startled the resident because there was a loud clattering, the sound of glass breaking and something that she couldn't quite hear,  but definitely had the inflection of a swear. "Uh… C-come in!" The dragon inside called frantically. "I have to apologize though, it's quite a mess." Cinnamon slowly opened the door and poked her head in. The bespectacled NightWing inside paused her tidying up and looked to see who her guest was. "Cinnamon!" She gently placed the scrolls, broken ink bottles and other items she had in her arms on the table next to her and went to greet the SandWing. Once she reached the door she saw that there were two SeaWings with her as well. "Oh! Well… Hello to you too!" She gave a small smile and nodded to each of them. She turned back into her hut and continued cleaning. "So what brings you and a couple of SeaWings this far into the Rainforest anyway?" Starcatcher asked Cinnamon. "Oh, you know. I was… around… and my buddy Goby over here told me the MudWings have a new queen." She responded. "Oh, interesting." Starcatcher replied. It was the kind of response that said 'I'm not really paying attention, but I want to keep the conversation going for the sake of your feelings.' When Cinnamon looked over to see why the NightWing wasn't paying attention she saw that Starcatcher had gone back to scribbling notes on an astronomical map of the Rainforest. "And I was wondering if you'd heard anything else about those rumors that they have an animus as well." Cinnamon pressed on. "Oh yes, the ani-" Starcatcher put down her pen and sat straight up, Cinnamon's words had finally registered in her brain. "Wait, you don't think-?" Cinnamon nodded. She was no mind reader, but she didn't have to be to know what her NightWing friend was thinking. "Barnacle, Goby and I are going to the Mud Kingdom to confirm our little theory." The SandWing explained. "Well why is it the business of a SandWing and two SeaWings what goes on in the MudWing palace?" This time it was Goby's turn to talk.

     "Because the SeaWings have had diplomatic relationships with the MudWings for half a century and our tribe has shared long held secrets with former Queen Bullfrog as well as her council." Goby paused to see Starcatcher's reaction. Her eyes were on Goby and she was listening with a blank expression on her face. "As I'm sure _you_ know," he continued and shot a glare at Starcatcher, "Animus dragons have a history of letting their power go to their head, so an animus queen with inside knowledge of the Sea Kingdom could be either our greatest ally or our greatest enemy. Now do you see why it's our business?" Starcatcher was silent for a moment. Her eyes flicked back and forth as she processed everything Goby had just said. She took a deep breath before responding. "Yes, I do see why you're concerned now. However I feel like your animosity towards me is entirely unwarranted. It seems unfairly biased and frankly a little racist to blame me for what happened fifty years ago with The Darkstalker." Goby looked unamused. "And after all, wasn't your tribe responsible for producing the culprit of the first documented  animus massacre?" Goby stood up, teeth bared and spines bristling. He might have killed Starcatcher right then and there had Barnacle not stepped in front of him. "That's enough!" Barnacle barked. "This isn't what we came here to talk about!" Goby stepped back and lowered his spines. "Now," Barnacle turned to Starcatcher. "What do you know about the MudWing animus?" He asked calmly. This tone must have been satisfactory for the NightWing because she smiled, lifted her head and gave him a proper answer.

     "I don't know much, only bits and pieces I've heard from the dragons who come to the village to trade or visit." She gestured her head towards Cinnamon. "There's only ever been one MudWing I've seen here. He introduced himself an unsib or something like that, but I think his name was Cattail. He said before he left that there were strange things happening; large groups of hippos walking onto shore and just keeling over so dragons could eat them, and new mud huts growing out of the ground, like no one built them they just grew 'like magic' he told us. He said that he didn't know for sure, because MudWings don't pay very much attention to others outside their little family group, but he sounded pretty spooked." _Like magic?_ Cinnamon thought _that sounds promising!_ She glanced over at Barnacle who made eye contact with her. His face said what Cinnamon had been thinking. Goby looked deep in thought, and judging from his expression they were the bad ones. "So I guess the question is," Cinnamon broke the silence "will you come with us?" A branch broke outside the window and there was a loud crash everyone turned to see who or what was making the ruckus.

     A small RainWing was grumpily flapping back up to the window. Her scales were a deep rhubarb and bright lime green. She landed in the window with a thump that knocked the contents of the tiny desk onto the floor again. "I'm coming too!" She declared. "Dragonlily?!" Starcatcher exclaimed. Cinnamon couldn't tell if Starcatcher was upset about the fact that she had been being spied on or the fact that her desk was in shambles again. "What?" Dragonlily asked innocently. _That was weird. She sounded almost... worried._ Cinnamon wondered if it was real or just her ears playing tricks on her. "Well for one, I _just_ cleaned that up, and two, I haven't even said anything about going yet!"  Dragonlily looked down at her claws, it was impossible to hide the embarrassment on both her face and her scales. "But I do think I will." The RainWing perked up and spread her wings. Her scales rippled to a lavender and pale yellow "I've been cooped up here in the Rainforest my whole life and I want to see _new_ skies, _new_ stars, _new_ dragons." Starcarcher turned to Cinnamon. "I'll go."

"So when do we leave?" Dragonlily interjected, her scales shifting back to her initial colors. Cinnamon noticed that they were brighter this time around. Barnacle answered her: "Why not now?"


End file.
